The present invention relates to metal connectors and more particularly to hidden fasteners for connecting and joining wooden structural members.
The joinder of structural load bearing wooden members has been significantly advanced by the advent of structural wooden joints which are connected solely by means of metal plates having nail-like teeth struck therefrom and embedded into the wooden members, such as illustrated in Jureit U.S. Pat. No. 2,877,520. Plates of this type wherein the teeth serve as the only means holding the plates onto the wooden members and the wooden members in adjoining relation have proved eminently successful particularly in the building industry. Various arrangements and configurations of teeth in the plates have been proposed and constructed in the past for specific purposes and to solve particular problems associated with utilization of connector plates of this type.
The present invention provides a novel and improved metallic connector assembly intermediate wooden structural members prior to the compression of these members onto the connector assembly. The present connector assembly includes a pair of substantially planar plates each having a plurality of teeth struck therefrom. Each of the planar plates is provided with a series of apertures which align with the teeth from the other plate so that the plates may be interengaged with the planar portions thereof in face to face contact, and with teeth from one plate extending through and being exposed outwardly in opposite directions from opposite sides of the connector assembly. Thus each of the pair of connector plates employed in the assembly of the present invention is constructed as an individual plate having teeth struck therefrom and may be used individually, such as in the joining of structural members. Alternatively, with the pair of plates aligned so that the teeth of each plate pass through the slots or apertures of the other plate, there is obtained a connector plate assembly which may be employed to join wooden structural members, with the joined plates providing a secure unitized construction. The connector plate assembly of the present invention is particularly useful when employed in wooden beams in building construction and in the construction of columns for buildings such as agricultural buildings. Other uses of the present connector assembly would include the manufacture of furniture.
The construction of the present invention is distinguished over the multi-piece connectors as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,454,292 to Sanford, in that the interengaging members of the multi-piece connectors of U.S. Pat. No. 3,454,292 employ an arrangement in which only one of the two locking members is provided with teeth which pass through apertures in the other locking member. Both locking members have embedment teeth for attachment to their respective structures to be joined.
The present invention is also distinguished from the two sided fastener of U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,195 to Jureit in which the connector assembly includes back-to-back connector plates which are welded prior to assembly.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved apparatus and method for the joining of wooden members.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a low cost method and apparatus for connecting wooden structural members.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel connector plate assembly utilizing a pair of interengaging connector plates which may be employed together or separately.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel and improved connector assembly for the joining of wooden structural members utilizing an interengaged pair of connector plates from which extend nail-like teeth on opposite sides of the assembly.
It is another object of this invention to provide a novel and improved method for connecting structural members in which a novel hidden fastener is placed between structural members and the structural members compressed thereon, the novel hidden fastener providing the joint formed thereby with exceptional strength and resistance to shear and transverse forces even with surfaces of limited contacting areas.